Caring for your Cole Clark Guitar.
Warranty:
Warranty is granted by the distributor in the country of purchase.
Your first call for any problem should be to the Cole Clark dealer you purchased your guitar from or your closest Cole Clark dealer.
Warranty is valid only for the person who purchased the guitar new.
Warranty is for faulty workmanship. If a guitar is mistreated or not kept within the suggested humidity and temperature boundaries, then the warranty is void.
Guitar strings are not a warranty item.
If you are not playing your guitar for a prolonged period of time, we suggest loosening the strings and removing the battery.
Do not keep your guitar in your car where temperatures can get up to 50 degrees Celsius and down below freezing.
Temperature and Humidity:
All Cole Clark Guitars are made from solid timbers. All timber guitars take on moisture and expand when the weather is humid. They also lose moisture and can crack when the weather is dry. Solid wood guitars are especially prone to this. If guitars get too hot, glue can let go. We manufacture at, and suggest you keep your guitar between 42 and 50 percent humidity and at a temperature between 13 and 28 degrees Celsius. Rapid increase or decrease in temperature or humidity can contribute to cracking and expanding. There are many products to help you keep your Cole Clark at the recommended humidity. D’Addario/Planet Waves makes a large range of products that measures and maintains humidity within these boundaries. They are available at our online store. We recommend keeping your guitar in it’s case when you’re not using it. While cheaper guitars made from plywood don’t shift as much, you compromise tone and quality.
Bridge Screws:
The screws next to the bridge saddle are to keep the tension of the piezo pickup system under the bridge. These are NOT for adjusting the saddle height. Please do NOT adjust these as it will likely lead to expensive repairs which are not covered under warranty.
Cleaning:
We recommend putting lemon oil on the bridge and fingerboard when you change strings. This will keep them from drying out. We recommend cleaning the rest of your guitar with a small amount of warm water and drying it off with a clean dry cloth. Many guitar and furniture polishes will affect the nitrocellulose finish. With our satin instruments, do not rub them hard as they will become shiny where you rub them. Do not use furniture polishes on our guitars. The standard finish is satin nitrocellulose. As a guitar ages, the finish will yellow off slightly and get shiny in areas of wear. When cleaning a Satin Box fretboard, be sure to use a new cloth as a cloth used on darker timbers will stain the white Satin Box.
Strings:
When stringing the guitar, push the bridge pin in softly and pull the ball end up against the bridge pin. Next, push the bridge pin in with your thumb. If you tap or hammer the bridge pin you can crack the bridge.
The heaviest strings that should go on a Cole Clark guitar are 13 to 56. We recommend 12 to 53.
For specific string gauges for each of our models, see FAQ section.
Guitar Stands:
Some guitar stands and hangers affect nitrocellulose finish. A high quality stand will not affect the finish. We use K&M stands.
Setting up your Cole Clark:
Every guitar needs setting up or servicing on a regular basis. How much it is used determines how often this needs to be done. If there is wear on the frets, it is time for a set up. We would recommend at least once a year as all timber moves with the seasons. This will keep the action at a height that is easy to play.